The South Korean shipping company Sinokor Merchant Marine bought three sister ships – Cape Akrotiri, Cape Ancona and Cape Aspro. The three tankers were owned by the German company Columbia Shipmanagement Deutschland, which had serious debt problems and was forced to sell some assets to cover the bank loans. The price of the deal was not announced by according to experts it is about 48,000,000 USD. The three crude oil carriers were part from one order in South Korean shipyard Halla Engineering Samho in 1998 and has similar measures, size and capacity. Cape Akrotiri, Cape Ancona and Cape Aspro will be delivered to the new shipowner Sinokor Merchant Marine in the end of the year, when their time charter expires. All the ships are in good condition and operating under the flag of Cyprus. The shipowner Sinokor Merchant Marine is one of the leaders in container, tanker and general goods shipping in South Korea and whole East Asia.

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Comments Off on Container ship R.Partner was sold to Simatech Shipping

> The container ship R.Partner was sold to the United Arab Emirates company Simatech Shipping. The price of the deal is 2,700,000 USD and the contract was signed today by the Arab company and the German owners Rickmers Reederei. The company Simatech Shipping is operating with fleet in the Persian Gulf and connect the ports in all Arab world. The new ship will expend the fleet of the UAE shipowner and will continue its growth as to cover more ports and cargo. The container ship R.Partner was announced for sale by the German shipwoner Rickmers Reederei as part of the fleet renew and innovations in the cargo vessels, which should become more effective and cheaper for operations. The UAE company Simatech Shipping found the price for the container ship highly reasonable and contracted the deal for buying the vessel. The delivery is expected to be done till the end of October 2012.

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Comments Off on MSC Flaminia got approval to continue her journey to Germany

The container ship MSC Flaminia, which caught fire in the mid-Atlantic is finally ready to be towed to German territorial waters, where the vessel will be fully surveyed and inspected by the shipyard and will decided her future. MSC Flaminia is seriously damaged and four of the cargo holds suffered sufficient damages during the fire, but according to many experts there is opportunity the ship to be repaired and to continue operations. The ship was delayed for about 2 months, waiting for approval from France, UK, Belgium and Netherlands to enter in their territorial waters as transit route to Germany. After experts boarded the ship and ensured that the fire is completely extinguished and there are no dangerous cargo on board, which may cause ecological disaster, MSC Flaminia was allowed to continue the route to Germany. Today the vessel left her holding position 20 miles south off Lands End and headed with 3.5 knots to the continent.

Fire started in the engine room of the general cargo ship Jul, which is docked for repairs in the Shipyard of Ismajil, Ukraine.The fire started in the engine room during welding works on board and quickly growth to the superstructure. The whole accommodations are destroyed and 2 dock workers died during the accident. The fire also injured two other people, who were trying to extinguish the fire, before growing too much. The fire fighting took more than 10 hours, before the team to get control over it. The general cargo ship Jul got sufficient damages and was seriously hurt and the repair will be delayed with one or two months. The local authorities started investigation over the accident and the shipowner will look for compensation from the Shipyard and dock workers for the damages caused.

Fire started on board of the Floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) ship Cidade de Itajai. The accident happened off the Singapore coast during sea trials. The vessel is still in the Jurong Shipyard and part from the equipment is still not installed. The ship is ordered by Odebrecht Oil and Gas and will be chartered by Petrobras. On board of the ship there were about 25 people – crew members, Petrobras experts and Shipyard engineers. The local authorities reported that there are no injured people during the fire on board and it was extinguished with own firefighting equipment. The FPSO Cidade de Itajai suffered slight damages and the delivery, which is expected to be done in December 2012 will not be delayed by this accident. In spite of the fire, the vessel passed the sea trials and will be ready for complete works by the builders in Jurong Shipyard.

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Comments Off on Crew member of Costa Favolosa fell overboard in Turkey

The cruise ship Costa Favolosa suffered accident with one of the crew members, who fell over the board and was lost at Aegean Sea. The accident happened somewhere off Istanbul, Turkey and the vessel and Turkish Coast Guard performed more than 6 hours search and rescue operation, which was not successful. The crew member was dancer of the cruise ship and according to the local authorities the man is presumed to be dead. The rescue operations were terminated and the cruise ship Costa Favolosa interrupted the cruise, returning directly to Venice, Italy. All the cruise passengers will be compensated for the shorter voyage. The Turkish and Italian authorities started investigation of the accident.

The general cargo ship Lisa D was detained in Copenhagen after the ship was not answering to the VHF calls. The vessel was on route from Gothenburg to Gdansk, passing through The Sound strait, when the traffic control was trying to get in touch with the officers, but no-one replied. The traffic police forced the ship and armed men from boarded from a fast boat. The policemen made an alcohol test to the crew and found that the captain has over 2 per thousand consistence in the blood, while the helmsman was totally sober. The Lithuanian captain was arrested and if the blood tests find the same consistence of alcohol in his blood can stay 2 months in the Danish prison. The vessel is detained for 24 hours in the port of Copenhagen and will be released after full investigation of the accident.

The IMO II Chemical/Product Tanker Reinhold Schulte was named today on an official ceremony in Nantong dockyard of the shipbuilder Mingde Heavy Industries. The ship is the third and last from the order made by Bernhard Schulte, which will increase their fleet and will modernize it according to the latest standards of IMO and MARPOL. On the naming ceremony were invited guests from the shipowner’s office, SMC, DNV and the Shipyard. According to the official press release from the technical superintendent of Bernhard Schulte, the shipbuilders integrated the most modern technology and reached the standard of the world’s top class shipbuilding. Definitely the cargo vessel is combining, environmental engineering, powerful propulsion system and really quality design.

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Comments Off on Russian general cargo ship ran aground on German beach

The general cargo ship Vyg ran aground on a beach in Rostock, Germany. The vessel stray from the course, heading directly to the beach. The ship ran aground in the sandbanks, causing minor damages of the hull. The general cargo ship Vyg was able to refloat alone with full stern speed, but was asked from the port authorities to drop anchor nearby and to wait for full inspection of the hull and investigation of the accident. The authorities found that the duty officer and the helmsman consumed large amounts of alcohol and were totally intoxicated. The ship was detained in the Rostock port for further investigation and sanctions from the local authorities. The general cargo ship Vyg was on route from Calais to Klaipeda, fully loaded with cargo, but most probably the delivery will be delayed.

On 3rd September 2012 will open the new multibillion-dollar Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The port is really modern, located in an industrial area, which is known as Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi. The port is situated in Taweelah, between Dubai and Abu Dhabi and is created to serve and support the strategical growth of the economy of Abu Dhabi. Khalifa Port cost 7.2 billion USD for the first phase and from the UAE government promise that this is still its initial phases. The port will continue to growth, as Abu Dhabi and Dubai are planned to become not only the top travel destinations, but also centers of the industry in the region. The cargo port development is planned to turn Abu Dhabi into a center of container and general cargo shipping in Asia.